JERSEYVILLE - Judge Eric Pistorius denied a post-trial motion for appeal and requesting a new trial for Roger Carroll, convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and kidnapping of Bonnie Woodward.
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Jersey County State's Attorney Ben Goetten said Carroll’s sentencing is now scheduled for 1 p.m., Oct. 1, 2020, in Jersey Court.
"Crystal Uhe handled the state's response to the defendant's motion," Goetten said. "Uhe's an impressive prosecutor, plain and simple. She made our county and the victim's family proud today in defending the state's position. We are lucky to have her as part of this team."
Uhe made the following statement after the hearing concluded: "Roger Carroll was convicted after a full and fair trial by an impartial jury. We agree with Judge Pistorius's decision today and look forward to the upcoming sentencing date where the family will finally be delivered closure and Roger will spend the reminader of his life in prison where he cannot harm anyone else."
Carroll was accused of luring Woodward to Jersey County where authorities say he killed Woodward with a Stoeger Cougar 9mm Luger by shooting her several times about the body before burning her corpse and concealing it.
The jury deliberated for six hours before issuing the guilty verdict. Woodward’s murder occurred on June 25, 2010. He was an early suspect in the 2010 investigation, but the case lay dormant until April 2018 after his alleged assault of his wife, Monica, and subsequent testimony by his son, Nathan.
Clyde Kuehn and Scott Snider, Roger Carroll's lawyers, filed the retrial motion.
Crystal Uhe, the Madison County first assistant state’s attorney, was appointed special prosecutor in the Carroll case. She said a few weeks ago, the request for a new trial is common when an appeal is planned in a case.
“It is pretty standard after a jury verdict, an attorney has 30 days for filing a post-trial motion for appeal,” Uhe said at that time. “The pandemic came down right after the verdict."
Uhe said her team received the post-trial motion and they were given two to three weeks to respond at the time.Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
